Paul Reiser

After establishing himself as a sharp-witted presence on the New York comedy scene, Paul Reiser dove headlong into features, playing fast-talking comic relief in films like "Diner" (1982), "Beverly Hi...
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Helen Hunt's hit 1990s sitcom Mad About You is set to be remade for Chinese audiences next year (15). Producers at Sony Pictures Television have teamed up with bosses at China's HuaCheng Pictures to revamp the U.S. show, which starred Hunt and Paul Reiser as a newlywed couple attempting to sustain its marital bliss throughout a series of personal and professional hurdles.
Casting details have yet to be released, but production is due to begin in early 2015.
In a statement, Sony executive Dai Huang writes, "We have chosen to co-produce a local version of Mad About You in China because we believe this story about a young couple trying to balance their lives in the big city will be especially relevant to local audiences."
The original Mad About You series, set in New York City, ran for seven seasons from 1992 until 1999.

Sigourney Weaver reunited with the cast of her hit sci-fi film Aliens on Saturday (10May14) to mark the 28th anniversary of the movie's release. The actress, most famous for her role as Ellen Ripley in the franchise, joined co-stars Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Jenette Goldstein, Lance Henriksen and Carrie Henn at the Comic and Entertainment Expo in Calgary, Canada.
The reunion was set up to mark the anniversary of the James Cameron classic, which was released in 1986, and the castmates admitted they are still blown away by how many film fans still ask them about the movie.
Paxton said, "They'll still be asking us about Aliens (in 100 years). Haven’t you people had enough?"
Weaver spoke about picking up a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role in the film, and admits she was ill prepared for the amount of attention she received after playing Ripley.
She explained: "I was shocked. I don't think I really understood the significance of the genre, getting recognised like that.
“I was very, very honoured, but it was such an ensemble picture... I was really representing everyone. We were such a family."

Everett Collection
The 2014 Sundance Film Festival lineup for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary competition and the out-of-competition NEXT section is officially here, and damn are we excited.
As the festival has evolved and grown, so has the long list of actors and directors who have eagerly jumped on board to be a part of the indie film scene, which means that the lineup of actors for the upcoming event is looking pretty solid. In 2014 we can look forward to seeing the works of those like Glenn Close, Susan Sarandon, John Slattery, Aaron Paul, Kristen Stewart, and Mark Ruffalo, and comedians such as Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Lena Dunham, Jenny Slate, Aubrey Plaza, Amy Sedaris, and more.
The festival will run from Jan. 16 to 26 in Park City, Utah and will include 118 features. Still to come are the lineups for Slates for Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, New Frontier, Premieres and Documentary Premieres, and the new Sundance Kids category.
Check out the lineup so far (via Vulture):
DRAMATIC COMPETITION
Camp X-Ray / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Peter Sattler) — A young woman is stationed as a guard in Guantanamo Bay, where she forms an unlikely friendship with one of the detainees. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Payman Maadi, Lane Garrison, J.J. Soria, John Carroll Lynch.Cold in July / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Jim Mickle, Nick Damici) — After killing a home intruder, a small town Texas man's life unravels into a dark underworld of corruption and violence. Cast: Michael C. Hall, Don Johnson, Sam Shepard, Vinessa Shaw, Nick Damici, Wyatt Russell.Dear White People / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Justin Simien) — Four black students attend an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over an “African American” themed party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film explores racial identity in postracial America while weaving a story about forging one's unique path in the world. Cast: Tyler Williams, Tessa Thompson, Teyonah Parris, Brandon Bell.Fishing Without Nets / U.S.A., Somalia, Kenya (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey, David Burkman) — A story of pirates in Somalia told from the perspective of a struggling, young Somali fisherman. Cast: Abdikani Muktar, Abdi Siad, Abduwhali Faarah, Abdikhadir Hassan, Reda Kateb, Idil Ibrahim.God's Pocket / U.S.A. (Director: John Slattery, Screenwriters: John Slattery, Alex Metcalf) — When Mickey's stepson Leon is killed in a construction "accident," Mickey tries to bury the bad news with the body. But when the boy's mother demands the truth, Mickey finds himself stuck between a body he can’t bury, a wife he can’t please, and a debt he can’t pay. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Christina Hendricks, John Turturro.Happy Christmas / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joe Swanberg) — After a breakup with her boyfriend, a young woman moves in with her older brother, his wife, and their 2-year-old son. Cast: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham, Joe Swanberg.Hellion / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kat Candler) — When motocross and heavy metal obsessed, 13-year-old Jacob's delinquent behavior forces CPS to place his little brother Wes with his aunt, Jacob and his emotionally absent father must finally take responsibility for their actions and each other in order to bring Wes home. Cast: Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins, Deke Garner, Jonny Mars, Walt Roberts.Infinitely Polar Bear / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Maya Forbes) — A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier. Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky, Ashley Aufderheide.Jamie Marks is Dead / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Carter Smith) — No one seemed to care about Jamie Marks until after his death. Hoping to find the love and friendship he never had in life, Jamie’s ghost visits former classmate Adam McCormick, drawing him into the bleak world between the living and the dead. Cast: Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver, Morgan Saylor, Judy Greer, Madisen Beaty, Liv Tyler.Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter / U.S.A. (Director: David Zellner, Screenwriters: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner) — A lonely Japanese woman becomes convinced that a satchel of money buried in a fictional film is, in fact, real. Abandoning her structured life in Tokyo for the frozen Minnesota wilderness, she embarks on an impulsive quest to search for her lost mythical fortune. Cast: Rinko Kikuchi.Life After Beth / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeff Baena) — Zach is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth. When she mysteriously returns, he gets a second chance at love. Soon his whole world turns upside down... Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser.Low Down / U.S.A. (Director: Jeff Preiss, Screenwriters: Amy Albany, Topper Lilien) — Based on Amy Jo Albany's memoir, Low Down explores her heart-wrenching journey to adulthood while being raised by her father, bebop pianist Joe Albany, as he teeters between incarceration and addiction in the urban decay and waning bohemia of Hollywood in the 1970s. Cast: John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Flea.The Skeleton Twins / U.S.A. (Director: Craig Johnson, Screenwriters: Craig Johnson, Mark Heyman) — Estranged twins Maggie and Milo coincidentally cheat death on the same day, prompting them to reunite and confront the reasons their lives went so wrong. As the twins' reunion reinvigorates them, they realize the key to fixing their lives may just lie in repairing their relationship. Cast: Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook, Joanna Gleason.The Sleepwalker / U.S.A., Norway (Director: Mona Fastvold, Screenwriters: Mona Fastvold, Brady Corbet) — A young couple, Kaia and Andrew, are renovating Kaia´s secluded family estate. Their lives are violently interrupted when unexpected guests arrive. The Sleepwalker chronicles the unraveling of the lives of four disparate characters as it transcends genre conventions and narrative contrivance to reveal something much more disturbing. Cast: Gitte Witt, Christopher Abbott, Brady Corbet, Stephanie Ellis.Song One / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kate Barker-Froyland) — Estranged from her family, Franny returns home when an accident leaves her brother comatose. Retracing his life as an aspiring musician, she tracks down his favorite musician, James Forester. Against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s music scene, Franny and James develop an unexpected relationship and face the realities of their lives. Cast: Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, Mary Steenburgen, Ben Rosenfield.Whiplash / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity. Cast: Miles Teller, JK Simmons.
NEXT
Appropriate Behavior / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Desiree Akhavan) — Shirin is struggling to become an ideal Persian daughter, a politically correct bisexual, and a hip, young Brooklynite, but fails miserably in her attempt at all identities. Being without a cliché to hold on to can be a lonely experience. Cast: Desiree Akhavan, Rebecca Henderson, Halley Feiffer, Scott Adsit, Anh Duong, Arian Moayed. World Premiere.Drunktown's Finest / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sydney Freeland) — Three young Native Americans—a rebellious father-to-be, a devout Christian woman, and a promiscuous transsexual—come of age on an Indian reservation. Cast: Jeremiah Bitsui, Carmen Moore, Morningstar Angeline, Kiowa Gordon, Shauna Baker, Elizabeth Francis. World Premiere.The Foxy Merkins / U.S.A. (Director: Madeleine Olnek, Screenwriters: Lisa Haas, Jackie Monahan, Madeleine Olnek) — Two lesbian hookers work the streets of New York. One is a down-on-her-luck newbie; the other is a beautiful—and straight—grifter who's an expert on picking up women. Together they face bargain-hunting housewives, double-dealing conservative women, and each other in this prostitute buddy comedy. Cast: Lisa Haas, Jackie Monahan, Alex Karpovsky, Susan Ziegler, Sally Sockwell, Deb Margolin.A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ana Lily Amirpour) — In the Iranian ghost town Bad City, a place that reeks of death and loneliness, depraved denizens are unaware they are being stalked by a lonesome vampire. Cast: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Dominic Rains, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Marnó, Milad Eghbali. World Premiere.Imperial Dreams / U.S.A. (Director: Malik Vitthal, Screenwriters: Malik Vitthal, Ismet Prcic) — A 21-year-old, reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future are put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles. Cast: John Boyega, Rotimi Akinosho, Glenn Plummer, Keke Palmer, De'aundre Bonds. World Premiere.Land Ho! / U.S.A., Iceland (Directors and screenwriters: Martha Stephens, Aaron Katz) — A pair of ex-brothers-in-law set off to Iceland in an attempt to reclaim their youth through Reykjavik nightclubs, trendy spas, and rugged campsites. This bawdy adventure is a throwback to 1980s road comedies, as well as a candid exploration of aging, loneliness, and friendship. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Nelson, Alice Olivia Clarke, Karrie Krouse, Elizabeth McKee, Emmsjé Gauti. World Premiere.Listen Up Philip / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Alex Ross Perry) — A story about changing seasons and changing attitudes, a newly accomplished writer faces mistakes and miseries affecting those around him, including his girlfriend, her sister, his idol, his idol's daughter, and all the ex-girlfriends and enemies that lie in wait on the open streets of New York. Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Elisabeth Moss, Jonathan Pryce, Krysten Ritter, Josephine de La Baume. World Premiere.Memphis / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Tim Sutton) — A strange singer drifts through the mythic city of Memphis, surrounded by beautiful women, legendary musicians, a stone-cold hustler, a righteous preacher, and a wolf pack of kids. Under a canopy of ancient oak trees and burning spirituality, his doomed journey breaks from conformity and reaches out for glory. Cast: Willis Earl Beal, Lopaka Thomas, Constance Brantley, Devonte Hull, John Gary Williams, Larry Dodson. World Premiere.Obvious Child / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Gillian Robespierre) — An honest comedy about what happens when Brooklyn comedian Donna Stern gets dumped, fired, and pregnant, just in time for the worst/best Valentine's Day of her life. Cast: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann, David Cross, Gabe Liedman, Richard Kind. World Premiere.Ping Pong Summer / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Tully) — 1985. Ocean City, Maryland. Summer vacation. Rap music. Parachute pants. Ping pong. First crushes. Best friends. Mean bullies. Weird mentors. That awkward, momentous time in your life when you're treated like an alien by everyone around you, even though you know deep down you're as funky fresh as it gets. Cast: Susan Sarandon, John Hannah, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris, Robert Longstreet, Marcello Conte. World Premiere.War Story / U.S.A. (Director: Mark Jackson, Screenwriters: Kristin Gore, Mark Jackson) — A war photographer retreats to a small town in Sicily after being held captive during the conflict in Libya. Cast: Catherine Keener, Hafsia Herzi, Vincenzo Amato, Donatella Finocchiaro, Ben Kingsley. World Premiere.
U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITIONAlive Inside: A Story of Music &amp; Memory / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Rossato-Bennett) — Five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease and dementia—many of them alone in nursing homes. A man with a simple idea discovers that songs embedded deep in memory can ease pain and awaken these fading minds. Joy and life are resuscitated, and our cultural fears over aging are confronted. All the Beautiful Things / U.S.A. (Director: John Harkrider) — John and Barron are lifelong friends whose friendship is tested when Barron's girlfriend says Barron put a knife to her throat and raped her. Not knowing she has lied, John tells her to go to the police. Years later, John and Barron meet in a bar to resolve the betrayal.CAPTIVATED The Trials of Pamela Smart / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jeremiah Zagar) — In an extraordinary and tragic American story, a small town murder becomes one of the highest profile cases of all time. From its historic role as the first televised trial to the many books and movies made about it, the film looks at the media’s enduring impact on the case. The Case Against 8 / U.S.A. (Directors: Ben Cotner, Ryan White) — A behind-the-scenes look inside the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. Shot over five years, the film follows the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.Cesar's Last Fast / U.S.A. (Directors: Richard Ray Perez, Lorena Parlee) — Inspired by Catholic social teaching, Cesar Chavez risked his life fighting for America’s poorest workers. The film illuminates the intensity of one man’s devotion and personal sacrifice, the birth of an economic justice movement, and tells an untold chapter in the story of civil rights in America. Dinosaur 13 / U.S.A. (Director: Todd Miller) — The true tale behind one of the greatest discoveries in history. Day One film.E-TEAM / U.S.A. (Directors: Katy Chevigny, Ross Kauffman) — E-TEAM is driven by the high-stakes investigative work of four intrepid human rights workers, offering a rare look at their lives at home and their dramatic work in the field. Fed Up / U.S.A. (Director: Stephanie Soechtig) — Fed Up blows the lid off everything we thought we knew about food and weight loss, revealing a 30-year campaign by the food industry, aided by the U.S. government, to mislead and confuse the American public, resulting in one of the largest health epidemics in history. The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz / U.S.A. (Director: Brian Knappenberger) — Programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz achieved groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing. His passion for open access ensnared him in a legal nightmare that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26. Ivory Tower / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Rossi) — As tuition spirals upward and student debt passes a trillion dollars, students and parents ask, "Is college worth it?" From the halls of Harvard to public and private colleges in financial crisis to education startups in Silicon Valley, an urgent portrait emerges of a great American institution at the breaking point. Marmato / U.S.A. (Director: Mark Grieco) — Colombia is the center of a new global gold rush, and Marmato, a historic mining town, is the new frontier. Filmed over the course of nearly six years, Marmato chronicles how townspeople confront a Canadian mining company that wants the $20 billion in gold beneath their homes. No No: A Dockumentary / U.S.A. (Director: Jeffrey Radice) — Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter on LSD, then worked for decades counseling drug abusers. Dock's soulful style defined 1970s baseball as he kept hitters honest and embarrassed the establishment. An ensemble cast of teammates, friends, and family investigate his life on the field, in the media, and out of the spotlight. The Overnighters / U.S.A. (Director: Jesse Moss) — Desperate, broken men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local Pastor's decision to help them has extraordinary and unexpected consequences.Private Violence / U.S.A. (Director: Cynthia Hill) — One in four women experience violence in their homes. Have you ever asked, “Why doesn't she just leave?” Private Violence shatters the brutality of our logic and intimately reveals the stories of two women: Deanna Walters, who transforms from victim to survivor, and Kit Gruelle, who advocates for justice. Rich Hill / U.S.A. (Directors: Andrew Droz Palermo, Tracy Droz Tragos) — In a rural, American town, kids face heartbreaking choices, find comfort in the most fragile of family bonds, and dream of a future of possibility. Watchers of the Sky / U.S.A. (Director: Edet Belzberg) — Five interwoven stories of remarkable courage from Nuremberg to Rwanda, from Darfur to Syria, and from apathy to action. WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION
52 Tuesdays / Australia (Director: Sophie Hyde, Screenplay and story by: Matthew Cormack, Story by: Sophie Hyde) — Sixteen-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition, and their time together becomes limited to Tuesdays. This emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility, and transformation was filmed over the course of a year—once a week, every week, only on Tuesdays. Cast: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Del Herbert-Jane, Imogen Archer, Mario Späte, Beau Williams, Sam Althuizen. International Premiere.Blind / Norway, Netherlands (Director and screenwriter: Eskil Vogt) — Having recently lost her sight, Ingrid retreats to the safety of her home—a place she can feel in control, alone with her husband and her thoughts. But Ingrid's real problems lie within, not beyond the walls of her apartment, and her deepest fears and repressed fantasies soon take over. Cast: Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali, Marius Kolbenstvedt. World Premiere.Difret / Ethiopia (Director and screenwriter: Zeresenay Berhane Mehari) — Meaza Ashenafi is a young lawyer who operates under the government's radar helping women and children until one young girl's legal case exposes everything, threatening not only her career but her survival. Cast: Meron Getnet, Tizita Hagere. World Premiere.The Disobedient / Serbia (Director and screenwriter: Mina Djukic) — Leni anxiously waits for her childhood friend Lazar, who is coming back to their hometown after years of studying abroad. After they reunite, they embark on a random bicycle trip around their childhood haunts, which will either exhaust or reinvent their relationship. Cast: Hana Selimovic, Mladen Sovilj, Minja Subota, Danijel Sike, Ivan Djordjevic. World Premiere.God Help the Girl / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stuart Murdoch) — This musical from Stuart Murdoch of Belle &amp; Sebastian is about some messed up boys and girls and the music they made. Cast: Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray, Cora Bissett, Pierre Boulanger. World Premiere.Liar's Dice / India (Director and screenwriter: Geetu Mohandas) — Kamala, a young woman from the village of Chitkul, leaves her native land with her daughter to search for her missing husband. Along the journey, they encounter Nawazudin, a free-spirited army deserter with his own selfish motives who helps them reach their destination. Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Geetanjali Thapa, Manya Gupta. International Premiere.Lilting / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Hong Khaou) — The world of a Chinese mother mourning the untimely death of her son is suddenly disrupted by the presence of a stranger who doesn't speak her language. Lilting is a touching and intimate film about finding the things that bring us together. Cast: Ben Whishaw, Pei-Pei Cheng, Andrew Leung, Peter Bowles, Naomi Christie, Morven Christie. World Premiere.
Lock Charmer (El cerrajero) / Argentina (Director and screenwriter: Natalia Smirnoff) — Upon learning that his girlfriend is pregnant, 33-year-old locksmith Sebastian begins to have strange visions about his clients. With the help of an unlikely assistant, he sets out to use his newfound talent for his own good. Cast: Esteban Lamothe, Erica Rivas, Yosiria Huaripata. World Premiere.To Kill a Man / Chile, France (Director and screenwriter: Alejandro Fernandez Almendras) — When Jorge, a hardworking family man who's barely making ends meet, gets mugged by Kalule, a neighborhood delinquent, Jorge's son decides to confront the attacker, only to get himself shot. Even though Jorge's son nearly dies, Kalule's sentence is minimal, heightening the friction. Cast: Daniel Candia, Daniel Antivilo, Alejandra Yañez, Ariel Mateluna. World Premiere.Viktoria / Bulgaria, Romania (Director and screenwriter: Maya Vitkova) — Although determined not to have a child in Communist Bulgaria, Boryana gives birth to Viktoria, who despite being born with no umbilical cord, is proclaimed to be the baby of the decade. But political collapse and the hardships of the new time bind mother and daughter together. Cast: Irmena Chichikova, Daria Vitkova, Kalina Vitkova, Mariana Krumova, Dimo Dimov, Georgi Spassov. World Premiere.Wetlands / Germany (Director: David Wnendt, Screenwriters: Claus Falkenberg, David Wnendt, based on the novel by Charlotte Roche) — Meet Helen Memel. She likes to experiment with vegetables while masturbating and thinks that bodily hygiene is greatly overrated. She shocks those around her by speaking her mind in a most unladylike manner on topics that many people would not even dare consider. Cast: Carla Juri, Christoph Letkowski, Meret Becker, Axel Milberg, Marlen Kruse, Edgar Selge. North American Premiere.White Shadow / Italy, Germany, Tanzania (Director: Noaz Deshe, Screenwriters: Noaz Deshe, James Masson) — Alias is a young albino boy on the run. His mother has sent him away to find refuge in the city after witnessing his father's murder. Over time, the city becomes no different than the bush: wherever Alias travels, the same rules of survival apply. Cast: Hamisi Bazili, James Gayo, Glory Mbayuwayu, Salum Abdallah. International Premiere.
WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
20,000 Days On Earth / United Kingdom (Directors: Iain Forsyth &amp; Jane Pollard) — Drama and reality combine in a fictitious 24 hours in the life of musician and international culture icon Nick Cave. With startlingly frank insights and an intimate portrayal of the artistic process, this film examines what makes us who we are and celebrates the transformative power of the creative spirit. World Premiere.Concerning Violence / Sweden, U.S.A., Denmark, Finland (Director: Göran Hugo Olsson) — Concerning Violence is based on newly discovered, powerful archival material documenting the most daring moments in the struggle for liberation in the Third World, accompanied by classic text from The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon. World Premiere.The Green Prince / Germany, Israel, United Kingdom (Director: Nadav Schirman ) — This real-life thriller tells the story of one of Israel’s prized intelligence sources, recruited to spy on his own people for more than a decade. Focusing on the complex relationship with his handler, The Green Prince is a gripping account of terror, betrayal, and unthinkable choices, along with a friendship that defies all boundaries. World Premiere.
Happiness / France, Finland (Director: Thomas Balmès) — Peyangki is a dreamy and solitary eight-year-old monk living in Laya, a Bhutanese village perched high in the Himalayas. Soon the world will come to him: the village is about to be connected to electricity, and the first television will flicker on before Peyangki's eyes. North American Premiere.Love Child / South Korea, U.S.A. (Director: Valerie Veatch) — In Seoul in the Republic of Korea, a young couple stands accused of neglect when "Internet addiction" in an online fantasy game costs the life of their infant daughter. Love Child documents the 2010 trial and subsequent ruling that set a global precedent in a world where virtual is the new reality. World Premiere.Mr leos caraX / France (Director: Tessa Louise-Salomé) — Mr leos caraX plunges us into the poetic and visionary world of a mysterious, solitary filmmaker who was already a cult figure from his very first film. Punctuated by interviews and previously unseen footage, this documentary is most of all a fine-tuned exploration of the poetic and visionary world of Leos Carax, alias Mr. X. World Premiere.My Prairie Home / Canada (Director: Chelsea McMullan) — A poetic journey through landscapes both real and emotional, Chelsea McMullan’s documentary/musical offers an intimate portrait of transgender singer Rae Spoon, framed by stunning images of the Canadian prairies. McMullan’s imaginative visual interpretations of Spoon’s songs make this an unforgettable look at a unique Canadian artist. International Premiere.The Notorious Mr. Bout / U.S.A., Russia (Directors: Tony Gerber, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Viktor Bout was a war profiteer, an entrepreneur, an aviation tycoon, an arms dealer, and—strangest of all—a documentary filmmaker. The Notorious Mr. Bout is the ultimate rags-to-riches-to-prison memoir, documented by the last man you'd expect to be holding the camera. World Premiere.Return to Homs / Syria, Germany (Director: Talal Derki) — Basset Sarout, the 19-year-old national football team goalkeeper, becomes a demonstration leader and singer, and then a fighter. Ossama, a 24-year-old renowned citizen cameraman, is critical, a pacifist, and ironic until he is detained by the regime's security forces. North American Premiere.SEPIDEH – Reaching for the Stars / Denmark (Director: Berit Madsen) — Sepideh wants to become an astronaut. As a young Iranian woman, she knows it’s dangerous to challenge traditions and expectations. Still, Sepideh holds on to her dream. She knows a tough battle is ahead, a battle that only seems possible to win once she seeks help from an unexpected someone. North American Premiere.We Come as Friends / France, Austria (Director: Hubert Sauper) — We Come as Friends views colonization as a human phenomenon through both explicit and metaphoric lenses without oversimplified accusations or political theorizing. Alarmingly, It is not a historical film since colonization and the slave trade still exist. World Premiere.Web Junkie / Israel (Directors: Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia) — China is the first country to label “Internet addiction” a clinical disorder. Web Junkie investigates a Beijing rehab center where Chinese teenagers are deprogrammed. World Premiere.
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Late TV and movie star Peter Falk is to be honoured with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ed Begley, Jr. and comedian Paul Reiser will be among those saluting the Columbo star when the 2,503rd star is unveiled on Thursday (25Jul13).
Actor Joe Mantegna, a lifelong friend of Falk's, will accept the honour on the late legend's behalf. Falk's star will be located right next to Montegna's on Hollywood Boulevard.
Falk famously won the role of the beloved TV detective in the late 1960s when Bing Crosby turned the part of Columbo down. He debuted as Columbo in 1968 TV movie Prescription: Murder.
Falk died in June, 2011, aged 83.

It should be easy to write off Boy Meets World as a blip on the lengthy timeline of family-friendly sitcoms. The show opted for simplicity over a high concept hook: at the center was the "Boy," Cory Matthews, a regular kid who navigated the ups and downs of life along with his mom, dad, older brother Eric, younger sister Morgan, his best friend Shawn, romantic interest Topanga, and wise sage of a teacher Mr. Feeny. As a well-intentioned, by-the-books comedy, the conclusion of Boy Meets World should have spelled the end of the series in viewers' TV Guides and minds.
But Boy never disappeared. After a seven-season run and 158 episodes, the series — which aired its finale on ABC in 2000 — continues to remain popular. The sitcom thrives on DVD and ABC Family reruns, and has been reinterpreted by passionate fans thanks to the Internet's thriving GIF culture.
How did Boy Meets World's legacy survive? By seizing an endless number of opportunities in the sitcom formula.
One episode in particular encapsulates everything the show continually got right, a half hour experiment that was as risky as the show was heartfelt: "And Then There Was Shawn," the series' horror episode, which was routinely revived during the Halloween season (the episode, strangely enough, originally aired during sweeps on Feb. 27, 1998). The Season 5 episode was a teen slasher parody that still, in true Boy spirit, led to an important life lesson for Shawn and helped an audience come to terms with Cory and Topanga's breakup. To do so, it brought together the entire cast for a "whodunnit?" mystery through the high school that strayed from Boy's traditional format — not only was it extremely graphic for its young viewers, but multiple characters met their maker throughout the half-hour. Despite the episode being as bizarre as it was bloody, "And Then There Was Shawn" became instantly memorable for not only the TGIF set who reference it annually on Twitter, but for Boy's cast and crew as well.
So, in the spirit of the Halloween season, Hollywood.com assembled the cast and crew of Boy Meets World to discuss how "And Then There Was Shawn" organically came to fruition, an evolutionary process that started at the very beginning of the show's creation:
Michael Jacobs, creator of Boy Meets World: I was just wrapping up Dinosaurs ... I went to the president of Disney television and said, "In all of these shows that are being done — Family Ties, Growing Pains — you have your Michael J. Fox, your Kirk Cameron. Big brothers. But what about the kids in the middle? The younger kids? They have lives." We started looking at it, and I got more and more jazzed by the betrayal that happens when the older brother, who has slept in your room as long as you can remember, decides you're not the one he's going to take to the ballgame. He's going to take his girlfriend. The first date episode, eternal in situation comedy, as told by the point of view from the younger brother, is a whole different television show. So I thought, what if there's a kid who was an everyman who loses his touchstone, his older brother, and he's lost and confused in the world?
Jeff McCracken, Boy Meets World producer and director of "And Then There Was Shawn": Michael loves to write kids. That's his forte. He's tried to write adults… whatever [laughs], I'm not going to denigrate Michael. He writes kids really well.
Jacobs: He said, "I noticed that you like writing for kids." "I do like writing for kids." "Why do you like writing for kids?" And I said, "I like writing for kids because I'm going to have some and they won't listen to me, but they'll watch my television shows and my characters and they won't know [they've] been listening to me." And that's what happened. I have four kids and I noticed the lessons I taught them have lasted their lives, but they didn't get them from me. They got them from Cory Matthews.
McCracken: [Michael] had done My Two Dads with Greg Evigan, Paul Reiser, and Staci Keanan ... He tells the same story again and again really well. He's very good at tapping into the consciousness of the day.
Jacobs: All I wanted to ever do was write a show that never spoke down to kids, because I thought that was primarily what was happening in the world of teenage television. Let's speak up to them. They understand far more. When you look at what they're looking at, they're not tracking their generation. They're tracking the next generation.
Rider Strong, "Shawn Hunter": Michael was both the heart and brains of the show. Every week, sitcoms have two "run-throughs," where the cast performs the show for the writers, producers, and network executives. Afterwards, the Executive Producer will give notes to the actors. On most shows, that means five to 10 minutes of notes. Michael rarely did less than an hour. Sometimes over two.
Ben Savage, "Cory Matthews": Other people would be "la dee da" [when approaching shows]. I've worked on other sitcoms — and I'm not saying other shows don't try as hard — but with Boy Meets World everyone was so passionate about every aspect of the show. It stood alone.
Jacobs: Bill Daniels [Cory's teacher Mr. Feeny], who I gave very few notes to (nor did I have to), would sit through all of the note sessions. He wanted to be part of what was happening with the kids. In the beginning, he pulled me in — this is year one ... during the very youth-oriented plot lines — and Bill called me to the set once, and I was sitting in my chair and he said to me, "Michael, how long exactly am I going to have to sit by this little fence [Feeny's stomping ground outside the Matthews' home]?" I said, "Seven years, Bill." And he said, "No!"
Strong: He'd go page by page through the script, discussing character, theme, you name it. And he would reference everything from specific episodes of Taxi to Noël Coward plays. And he would quote them verbatim. I not only learned about acting, but storytelling in general. I don't think I would be the actor, writer, or director I am without those note sessions.
Over the course of Boy Meets World's first five seasons, Jacobs and McCracken wrapped their work on Jim Henson's Dinosaurs, earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination for producing Robert Redford's Quiz Show, and continued to develop new projects. But multitasking never took a toll on the show, with the cast and writers' interest in Boy continuing as strong as ever.
Strong: It's hard to remember all the seasons distinctly, but I think Season 5 was probably one of the most fun. Michael Jacobs had spent three years sort of coming and going with the show — he had been trying to develop other pilots that had all failed. But Season 5 he came back strong and I remember feeling like the show hit a new groove.
Jacobs: I had three [shows] on the air. I was trying to nurture other shows while keeping very sharp tabs — reading all the scripts, going to all the tapings — on Boy. The other shows ran or didn't run, and I was able to come back to it.
McCracken: Michael asked me to direct the third season, which led to the fourth, fifth — I started directing all the seasons.
Strong: That year, in real life, I started going to college — the producers of Boy were giving me my mornings to attend classes, and I was splitting my nights between a dorm room the school required me to have, and this huge loft I found in downtown LA. So during that season, I was entering adult life and figuring out how to navigate school, work, different sets of friends... girls.
Savage: We were growing up on the show. I was applying to college, doing plays. Moving on. There was a lot going on. But in terms of my commitment to the show, my expectations to Michael — that didn't change.
Danielle Fishel, "Topanga": We were all juniors/seniors in high school and had a lot of other things on our plates. The show was usually pretty good at evolving and some of my favorite moments were when the show broke the fourth wall.
Will Friedle, "Eric": When the show started, we were very young and still trying to find our characters… By Season 5 we were much more comfortable, which made the entire flow of the show more natural.
Savage: In a way, we had taken such ownership of our characters, we were so protective of them, that it didn't matter, really. We were going to make sure the integrity of the character held up.
Matthew Lawrence, "Jack": I think coming into Season 5, they wanted to add more to the show. They wanted another guy to bounce off Will. And to have a B story line. You had Rider and Ben, and then they had me to pair up with Will. A little fresh blood into a situation that was already really good. I was very happy to [be that].
Jacobs: Nowhere in Season 5 or Season 6 or Season 7 did we ever think, "We've already run the gamut on possible storylines for where the show could go." The audience, at least in my experience, was so appreciative of it.
Strong: Artistically, of course, I wished I was on a more interesting, cutting-edge show or doing movies that suited my own tastes more — things like the Richard Linklater or Tarantino films of the time that I loved. But personally, our set was a haven: an incredibly tight-knit group of supportive, talented people. And so when I think about it now, a lot of the reason I was able to handle my first steps into the big bad world was precisely because I had this secure environment that I clocked into everyday.
Running with the idea that, in Season 5 , the Boy Meets Worldaudience understood the format, understood the characters, and understood the rules of the show, Jacobs and his team of writers had the freedom to play. And play they did, lifting the basis for ""And Then There Was Shawn"" from R-rated horror movies like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Jeff Menell, writer of ""And Then There Was Shawn"": I was a film reviewer for The Hollywood Reporter. Their New York film reviewer. So [before Boy], I was doing freelance writing, kind of enjoying my life.
McCracken: Jeff is a great film buff. He's a walking library.
Menell: It was around the time of the Scream movie. That was the impetus of it. I'm the big film guy of the staff. I love movies. I saw Scream. Was very scared. And the idea came from wanting to do a Halloween show.
Strong: It was a release valve. With the dream structure, our writers were able to get away with murder. Literally.
McCracken: Once you've established the communication with your audience, the audience is willing to go a lot more easily. If we had tried it the first season, they would have gone, ""What the hell is this?"" They wouldn't known what we were doing.
Menell: The way the [writers'] room worked, ideas are fished out all the time. It's not necessarily your idea. You get assigned scripts. I did campaign to get this one because I just love movies so much. I knew I could write this one. Of all the scripts I wrote, this was certainly the fastest and the easiest and the most fun, just because of the nature of the show.
Jacobs: It was important to me that we would be proud of as many episodes during the year as we could. I would tell the staff, ""In a 22- or 24-episode season, it is inevitable that you're going to do a dozen really good episodes, eight good episodes, and four barking dogs. In those barking dogs, it is easy for us to stay up one night and put in some iconic moment or some B-story that will propel the audience to next week. It helped us serialize Boy.
Menell: Every script on Boy Meets World was a group effort. You write a script, it gets tabled by the room. But of all my scripts, this one was changed the least.
McCracken: I've seen scripts that have come in and were totally rewritten from page one. Jeff Menell… it was shootable from the first draft he wrote. It would have been absolutely perfect. All we did was add a few little things. Amped up the humor.
Jacobs: ""And Then There Was Shawn"" was right out of Menell. We knew it was going to be an incredible episode — and a lot of fun. What happens is, it invigorates the staff. We know we're having so much fun that the best of what the staff can offer [goes] into it because we know it's going to be an incredible week.
Strong: I actually thought, ""Well, this will be fun for us, but our audience might hate it.""
Fishel: It was exciting on the page. I also loved the fact that we were going to be allowed to break character a little bit and be a little goofy. Topanga was always so rational, so breaking that up a bit was fun.
Strong: We were a primetime show. But as far as the adult world was concerned, our show didn't even exist. Boy Meets World was hovering in this strange middle ground: We weren't as popular as other family shows like Full House or Sabrina, but we also weren't a crappy Saturday morning show like Saved by the Bell. And so when we stepped out of the box with an episode like this, it kind of felt like we were in our own little corner of the playground, and no one was paying attention. Which means, in a way, we were thumbing our nose at expanding our audience — and by definition, building a cult following.
The positive reactions to "And Then There Was Shawn" from the cast and crew were across the board. But there were obvious questions when it came to pulling off the intricate episode within the constraints of the traditional sitcom format. Shooting logistics were one thing. Finding clever ways to kill off castmembers — a pencil through a teenager's head or stabbing Mr. Feeny with a pair of scissors — was another story.
McCracken: There was concern from the network. They said to us, "Nothing can be graphic." They were all over that at the table read.
Menell: The dead Feeny was something we wondered, ""How are people going to react to that?"" But he wasn't dead!
Jacobs: I'll never forget something Jeff Katzenberg taught me. When he was at Disney [Katzenberg was a Studio Chairman from 1984 to 1994], I went in to him to speak about epic fantasy. His answer was that he felt it was extraordinarily important that the viewer knew the rules of the new world they were about to enter. That there were parameters that had to be set so that the audience would feel in a very stable surrounding and that they were in good hands. It helped me in my storytelling and certainly helped in the Scream episode. Rider as Shawn, through the episode, sets down the rules.
McCracken: We were going to do it in a way that was going to be fun. We wanted the shock value, we wanted to scare. But we understood that we had a young audience and we did not want them running to their parents saying it's now a horror show and they can't sleep for a week. I said, '""Look, here's how we're going to do this. The pencil is going to go in his head, but when he falls, he's going to leave a pencil trail behind him. That's going to break the suspense for the laugh."" No blood. If that doesn't work, I don't know what to do in terms of funny. The janitor in the trashcan, when he pulls him up, right before then we crack a big joke. We teed it up to see it coming. Making sure we're wink-wink.
Fishel: We were always operating under the impression that the show was about to be canceled any minute. It was always a surprise and a relief when it was picked up so we didn't worry too much about that.
Jacobs: As long as your numbers are up, there are two ways to go about [dealing with the network]: the way is to be very attentive and take notes. Or the other way to do it (which I always did), instead of making anyone feel like I was giving short shrift to notes, I'd keep them there longer than they'd want to be there. So if they gave you a note, you kept expanding on that note to the point where they would have to miss the next show, miss the next lunch, and didn't want to be there. I noticed my note sessions, by year three, got incredibly short.
Menell: Michael Jacobs doesn't back down from anyone or anything. If the network would tell him to cool it down, he would probably amp it up.
Jacobs: At that point, the numbers were good. Ted Harbert [President of ABC Entertainment from 1992 - 1996] ... didn't want to talk to me. [I was] a whiny and endless bee in [the studio's] ear. They decided a long time ago, ""You know what, as long as the numbers are good, it's better to avoid him and let him do what he wants.""
McCracken: The network went with this because they trusted us enough.
With the studios approval, McCraken took "And Then There Was Shawn" to his cast and crew.
McCracken: We did the table read and [the cast] all looked at me like, ""......wow.'"" They thought it would be fun. It was off the hook. But they didn't know how we were going to shoot it. Everyone was nervous about that. But I already had it in my head. As soon as I read it, I knew. It wasn't going to be shot like a typical show.
Friedle: I don’t think it was difficult for us to shift gears. Actually, it was probably exactly what we needed at the time.
Menell: [Jeff McCracken is] such a passionate guy. He was so excited. He gets a ton of the credit for that episode. You get a lot of different directors, but knowing he was on board, I was just happy. I knew what he would bring to it.
McCracken: By the virtue of us being a well-oiled machine, to do something like that, even with special effects… [the network] didn't know how I was going to do it, but I said, ""don't worry."" That was the joy of it. Inventing the way to do it. The week before we had a hiatus so that week they were building the set for us. We created fourth walls.
Strong: Jeff McCracken was an actor's biggest advocate. He started out as an actor himself and he made us feel like we could do no wrong, and he always treated us as equals, despite being at least 30 years older (and about four feet taller — seriously, he's ridiculously tall) than any of us. We trusted him with our very souls.
Savage: [In all the episodes] I remember lots of heated discussions about whether Cory should do this, or Topanga should put her left arm on this shoulder, or Rider should say this, or I should push this guy. When you watch it you don't think about it, but everything was a discussion.
McCracken: It was going to be shot like a one hour. Shooting it in pieces, special shots. [We would] still invite the audience to watch, but with only a couple of scenes in front of them. [The cast] got really jazzed about that, to shoot a show like a film was fun for them. We didn't rehearse it like a normal show — four days of rehearsal and shoot the fifth day. We had a table read, and the third day we were shooting. We shot right through the week.
Strong: The Scream episode was also one of our hardest. Jeff had made things very complicated for himself in terms of the camera coverage, and I remember him being super stressed out.
McCracken: When I was a young actor I did a Wes Craven film with Linda Blair. I had my horror chops introduced to me by a horror master. I love the genre for what it is, even acted in a couple, but never directed any.
Jacobs: There were a ton of differences in the show. It was almost shot filmic because it mimicked a film. There was plenty of it that played in front of the live audience. I'd say there was a greater percentage of pre-shooting that played in front of a live audience then we would normally do. We would pre-shoot 20 percent of a show — scenes that were difficult, scenes that involved action. I would say that show we pre-shot twice that.
Friedle: That was very rare for us. It might actually have been the only time that we ever did that. I completely understand why … We were laughing so much that it must have been a bit stressful for Michael and Jeff. We loved it. I really think it brought us all closer as a cast.
Strong: We actors could not stop laughing. I mean, it was a problem. We usually would break character to laugh once or twice an episode, but when we were filming the Scream episode, we were falling apart on every single line. That's not an exaggeration. You know how when you were a kid and you'd get the giggles and not be able to stop for a few minutes? That's what it was like shooting the Scream episode, except it lasted for hours.
In "And Then There Was Shawn," the comedy comes from every direction. Slapstick humor, meta jokes, even a handful of South Park references — there was nothing the cast and crew didn't squeeze into the framework of their horror parody.
McCracken: Michael is wild. He can go off and be as looney tune as the next comedy writer. But the thing that always pulled him back was the heart of the characters. What were they feeling? What were they experiencing? What was the arc? What were they facing? How did they deal with the obstacles?
Lawrence: The first two or three shows I had to learn how the set was run. Michael liked to have a real legitimate undertone to our comedy. The first three weeks was like a boot camp. I got 80 percent of the notes [laughs]. I was like, ""What am I doing wrong?"" It was me learning the way that it worked. Once I figured it out... We could have really serious moments in episodes that were not sitcom moments at all. Very real. And then the next show would be a complete spoof. I think Michael knows it works that way.
Jacobs: Many of the episodes had wild farce moments. We could have done this more often, but I perceived that the show, in its slot, on that evening, ran best when you realized the formula that Feeny was going to put something on the board. The cast was as adept at slamming doors and doing farce as it was at offering a very pure heart.
McCracken: Will Friedle was one of the funniest people. He does voiceover work like crazy. He was the funniest actor I have ever worked with. In terms of improvisation, spontaneity, imagination, creativity. He just blew me away.
Menell: He had Jim Carrey qualities. He was willing to do anything. We made him a little too dumb sometimes. Even he would say, ""Come on guys."" There was stuff we didn't do because we thought it was too ridiculous. He was just really, really funny.
Jacobs: For Eric Matthews, we started with a dependable brother and said, ""What kind of incredible moron can we turn this character into?"" No matter how much moron we gave you, you always wanted more. We were happy to supply it.
Friedle: I always said that you could never go too far with the character and the writers did their best every week to test that theory.
Jacobs: Will didn't understand what I found funny [laughs]. There was an episode I always remember, this episode where we basically did the Alanis Morissette story. There's a scene where he goes into the hangout, Chubby's, and [his girlfriend's] sitting next to him and he's listening to how saccharine sweet she is and he can't stand it. I kept telling him, ""it's not animated enough, not loud enough."" He said, ""But I'm telling this girl that I don't want her alive."" I tell him, ""Will, if you tell her with any sincerity, the audience doesn't like you, I don't like you."" He completely, wildly overplayed the scene and people couldn't stop laughing. The laughs were so incredible and sincere. Will learned that if the audience accepts you, there are very few parameters in a Jerry Lewis world that you can't get away with as long as you're not redundant. We did so many different lovely things for Will because of the one overriding aspect of his character: his incredible heart and love for his friends.
Friedle: Occasionally, Michael and I would make a bet on show night as to whether or not I could get a laugh on a certain line. I think he still owes me some cash.
Jacobs: Will could get away with absolutely anything. He used to bet me, ""Is this laugh track or is this laugh?"" And I told him, ""It's never going to be laugh track."" He decided to believe it.
Lawrence: I play more of the straight guy. I know that timing really well — how to set up the pitch for the guy who is going to knock it out of the park. Will was so comfortable. He's hilarious. It was a kind of synergy you don't have an explanation for. It just really worked.
Jacobs: One of my favorite lines in that episode is when Will and Matt Lawrence were told by Rider that ""it is the virgin who lives. The person engaged in sexual activity that is first to die."" Eric says, ""I'm dead."" And Matt says, ""I'm dead."" And Rider says, ""I'll get as sick as you can get without actually dying."" A giant laugh in the house.
Fishel: Our friendships made it super easy because we were so comfortable being goofy, having fun, and laughing together.
Strong: It was one of the few episodes where all of us were in scenes together, and so we were simply enjoying being an ensemble. But part of it was also just how freaking bizarre the script was. It was madness.
McCracken: We tried to keep it light all around it all the time. There's always a joke prior to the scare, and always after. When Feeny falls forward with scissors in his back, Danielle goes ""Aaaaaa!"" there's a joke to break it again. Once you get Kenny, and the pencil mark, and the screaming of Angela, that all worked to say we were going to take liberty with the horror film and we're going to spoof it. Having fun while addressing the break-up of Cory and Topanga.
Richard Lee Jackson, ""Kenny"": The cast was great on screen and off, I felt at the time like we really hit it off. They kept referring to me becoming a regular, but of course that was up to the producers. You could tell the whole cast and the producers had a groove with the show, which makes a guest role easy to come in and play my part — kind of like a pinch hitter in baseball. Just get up to the plate and take a few swings.
Jacobs: He was the fifth guy on the Star Trek pod, and he ain't coming back. Little rules like that make the audience comfortable.
McCracken: I think Menell wrote the first joke about them killing Kenny. Will and I on set said that, when he opened the door, [he would] give me the "howdy ho" reference. That joke was the gateway. To officiate more South Park.
Strong: South Park raged through Hollywood like napalm. I remember Will got a hold of one of the original tapes of their short film The Spirit of Christmas and we organized screenings for all the writers and the crew. So by the time the show was on Comedy Central, the whole Boy Meets World cast and crew were already complete fanatics.
Friedle: We were all obsessed after that.
Strong: It was the dark side of kid comedy. Everything our writers probably wished they could do but couldn't.
Next: Cameos and the Big Emotional Reveal
Another layer of meta comedy was added in the form of a cameo, a casting surprise that elevated the episode to ""sweeps worthy.""
Menell: When we got Jennifer Love Hewitt to guest star, that added something to it [too].
Savage: Boy Meets World was always having a whole host of fun guest stars. Especially with Michael, we would have interesting, old timer guest stars. Rue Mclachlan, Phyllis Diller, Buddy Hackett, Bernie Kopell — 50s and 60s and 70s comedians. We had an episode in the early years where Jim Abbott was on. I think [Jennifer] was going to happen. She was a big star and she was around anyway.
Friedle: I always had fun working with Love. Not only was she my girlfriend but also a close friend. There really is nothing like working with close friends. You know what they are going to do as actors, which allows you to play a little bit more with your characters. I remember how excited we both were when Michael mentioned that he wanted to put her on the show.
Jacobs: She was adorable. She was such a good sport. So cool on the set. Anything we asked her to do she would do and then she'd want to do more. 'Feffie.' Jennifer Love Feffeferman. She was very happy doing it. They were adorable together.
Menell: [The making out] was a little uncomfortable during the run-through [laughs]. We didn't know she was going to be a megastar!
Perhaps the biggest shock of the ""And Then There Was Shawn"" is its ending, a surprisingly poignant moment in the Shawn's character arc. At the end of the episode, the ""killer"" turns out to be Shawn himself, the entire madcap adventure a dream manifested from Shawn's own inabilities to deal with Cory and Topanga's failed relationship. The cast and crew saw it as a testament to the show's abilities.
Jacobs: I was very happy with that episode, not just because of the stylized benefits we got. How do you write an episode where one of the characters says, ""It is not okay with me, that the love you aspire to someday, isn't working anymore. And for that I will burn down the world."" And then you get that episode from that idea.
Menell: The fact that it was about Cory and Topanga's relationship, that was probably more infused by Michael Jacobs and the room than my initial draft.
McCracken: I have to say, one of the things we'd always talk about was, yeah, we liked the slapstick, we liked the humor. Norman Lear was always a great inspiration — All in the Family, The Honeymooners. There's always a great beating heart at the center of the show. Michael has a heart that way as well. At that time, our audience was very stressed about [Cory and Topanga breaking up]. We used Shawn as the conduit, the Greek chorus, linkage to our audience for their concern over [the break-up]. That was big for everyone. Shawn had broken up with Angela and it that was something people were already upset about. So the network loved it because it was dealing with what they perceived to be a great emotional through line. How we were doing that, they thought would be great because it would tie into Halloween.
Jacobs: There's a dichotomy of what the style was opposed to what the message was. The message at the end is that it's necessary for Shawn to know that Cory and Topanga are going to be okay or he was going to burn down the world. That was important to him. By association, it became important to the audience.
McCracken: And who was the killer? That was also the dynamic of the episode too. Figuring out who was the killer when everyone started to die off.
Strong: The worst was there was a kid who had been an extra with us for years — we had a rotating group of regulars who would be in the background in school scenes — who had the unfortunate job of being my double. Me in the killer suit. He had to stand opposite me for the final reveal that I'm the killer, and we had to shoot it two directions, so it would appear that I was looking at myself. And all of us — I mean all of us, even the actors off-camera — were dying laughing. I think it was the last shot of the night. And this poor guy who just wanted to get his paycheck as an extra, get the hell out of there, and maybe move on to big acting gigs someday — this poor guy had to endure take after take because none of us could keep a straight face, including him. Who do you think would get fired in that situation? He didn't, thank God, but I remember feeling horrible.
Savage: [Most episodes] we literally didn't go home until it was perfect. You're dealing with a lot of neurotic actors and writers. That's Hollywood.
McCracken: It was a great cast. I had a great time. I never cared to direct TV, really. But when you find great people to work with… it was really just a phenomenal time.
Strong: It's the one time I can remember Jeff yelling on set. And he needed to. We were a disaster. But by the next morning, we were all laughing about it together. It's one of my most cherished memories.
The rest is history. ""And Then There Was Shawn"" revealed the malleability of Boy Meets World and proved that when the writers and actors stuck to their guns, audiences would connect with the material.
McCracken: We showed the first cut to [ABC] and they couldn't believe how well it came out. They were ready to pounce on it and cut things out. But they looked at it and went, ""Wow."" We didn't even have music to it yet. Everything helped to create this special episode.
Menell: There was a little backlash. There were people frightened by the episode. So there was bad mail that came to ABC. ""This isn't the show we watch!""-type stuff.
Strong: I remember talking to some young kids years later and they called it the ""scary episode"" and they actually meant that — they were scared by the janitor. Our show was supposed to be for kids of all ages, but kids under 10 don't really get irony. They just see a scary movie.
Jacobs: That's going to be allowed if the audience recognizes it as a Halloween episode. You go a little bit farther and it's not a problem. If this is an episode that ran without that benefit, that would be a little harsh. Especially for a young audience. If you remember the way Feeny fell down... it was not farcical. He dropped to his knees and fell forward.
Fishel: I like doing shows and episodes that push the boundaries because I think the audience appreciates it and wants to watch that much more because you took that risk.
Jackson: As crazy as it is, I still have people I don't know message me on Facebook having seen me on Boy Meets World.
Strong: Over the years, the episodes people want to talk about with me the most are weirdest ones. We time traveled twice. We did some meta-commentary about our disappearing castmates during the graduation episode. We did an episode where Eric goes to visit the set of ""Kid Gets Acquainted with the Universe"" that mocked our own show and our own personalities.
Menell: You have a blank canvas, but you can't suddenly be a different show. The fans… and by the way, the hardcore fans of this show would point out any inconsistencies. 'Shawn would never do that!' But after seven years, you get the voice.
Strong: The Scream episode was our most free form and tongue-in-cheek. In retrospect, I wish we had done more like it. Hell, that's basically what Community's been doing.
Jacobs: What I think launched a sustained run for Boy was an incredible evolution of what you knew [and] thought you know to what you never really knew at all.
Menell: The only thing you get bogged down with is coming up with stories. Something new, something different while being true to the show and to the fans and to the characters.
Jacobs: In the beginning it was a kid show ... It grew up and all of a sudden people came. The cast was growing, the writers were growing, and the show was still growing. When the show was canceled [after Season 7], it still had some life left in it. But we had done everything we needed to do a complete television show.
Menell: The show grew. It became about Cory and Topanga. That wasn't planned in the first year. Then they started to connect and people liked that. [Laughs.] We used to sort of mock it. ""Who are these 19-year-olds getting married? It's insane."" But it built to that. A lot of the stories were built from life. A lot of Michael Jacobs life was in the show. Sometimes I felt it got a little too heavy, a little too dramatic. But at the same time, that's what gave it its credibility.
Jacobs: There were two conversations that I had with Ted Harbert that I'll never forget, where he basically called and said, ""I know this is fruitless, but you can not marry Cory and Topanga? They are 19 years old. Is this where we're headed? Can we discuss it?"" And I said, ""We've done our diligence. I believe if you look back generationally, the divorce rate is higher than it's ever been. Kids are getting married in their late 20s. A generation ago the divorce rate was significantly less and kids were getting married in their early 20s. Our grandparents got married at 19 and the divorce rate was about 4%.."" He's laughing at this point — Ted and I got along real well. So I say, ""You have a brand-new thing you aren't using: ABC.com. I'll make you a deal: Run a graphic on Sabrina on the bottom, 'Should Cory and Topanga get married or not?'"" And he said, ""We'll get 10,000 hits.'"" And I said, ""Let's see what 10,000 say."" In 15 minutes [after the graphic aired on TV], we got 220,000 hits, 98 percent of which said, ""What do you think we're waiting for?"" Ted called me the next day, ""Can you please marry them in November or February?""
McCracken: Taking a young cast like that — Ben and Will and Rider and Danielle — and watching them grow and evolve, was just a real treat. You can't ask for more than that.
Menell: When the show ended — I wasn't ready for it to end — it seemed like the natural time to end it. People go their separate ways. They go to New York. They say goodbye to Feeney. It was very emotional.
Savage: I'm glad we were able to do something for people that meant something to them. That's not easy to do this world.
Jacobs: In those [final] years, there was a woman who stopped me in the street. Somehow she knew me, which was odd because I'm not an on-camera person. She said, ""Are you Michael?"" And I said, ""I am."" This woman was 40 or 42 years old. And she put her hand on my shoulder and she said, ""I want to thank you."" I said, ""You're welcome... for what?"" She said, ""My father was a school janitor."" And she turned and walked away. She was referring to the episode where Chet Hunter, in order to stay in town longer than he ever has, takes a job as the janitor in the high school. The kids make tremendous sport of Shawn. And Shawn, at the end, is mopping the floor with Chet and there's a bond between Shawn and Chet that hadn't been there before. A precursor to Shawn suffering the death of his father later in the series. My point is, when you get stopped on the street and someone thanks you... there was never a day where I walked into that writer's room, or any of us, and didn't realize we were lucky and doing something worthwhile.
[Photo Credit: ABC (11)]
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches

The movie, which also starred Steve Guttenberg, Ellen Barkin and Paul Reiser, was set in Baltimore, Maryland in 1959 and followed the lives of a group of friends on Christmas Day. And director Barry Levinson has now signed on to adapt the film into a stage musical.
In a statement, Levinson writes, “Diner was a pivotal moment in my career, and since then I have continued to live with the characters, realising there is much more to their story."
All I Wanna Do hitmaker Crow will supply the music and lyrics for the show, marking her theatre debut.
Diner is set to hit the Big Apple stage next year (12).

In this week’s Drive, not one but two big names from the land of TV have juicy roles: Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston and Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks (the latter also appears in Friday’s I Don't Know How She Does It). They’re hardly the first TV mainstays to find time for movies; likewise, they won’t be the first to boost their overall profile in so doing.
Take a trip down memory lane with highlights of a few actors who, in the midst of TV stardom, found time for movies—and benefited.
Jennifer Aniston
Hit Show: Friends
Concurrent Movies of Note: Office Space, Rock Star, The Good Girl, Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly
The most obvious example of an actor’s TV stardom affording movie opportunities galore, Aniston was almost as ubiquitous on the big screen during Friends’ 10-year run as she was on the small screen. Her first movie during that time, 1996’s She’s the One, bombed, but by the time her hit series came to an end, in 2004, she’d used movies to bolster her acting cred (The Good Girl), geek appeal (Office Space) and box office power (Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly).
James Gandolfini
Hit Show: The Sopranos
Concurrent Movies of Note: 8MM, The Mexican, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Last Castle, Surviving Christmas, All the King's Men
The man who will forever be known as Tony Soprano didn’t find the kind of success in film that he enjoyed – er, resented – on the beloved HBO show, but it wasn’t due to inactivity: During The Sopranos’ eight years on TV, Gandolfini starred in eight feature films, even though most sailed under the radar, which was perhaps intentional (except for Surviving Christmas). We can only hope we’ll someday see him reprise his Sopranos role – on the big screen.
Katherine Heigl
Hit Show: Grey's Anatomy
Concurrent Movies of Note: Knocked Up, 27 Dresses, The Ugly Truth
Seemingly overnight, Heigl went from being something of an also-ran as Dr. Izzie Stevens on ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy to the possible “next Julia Roberts.” It all started with Knocked Up – even though she would ultimately denounce director Judd Apatow’s treatment of her character – which begat the hit rom-com 27 Dresses, which begat the even bigger hit rom-com The Ugly Truth. It’s basically been downhill ever since for Heigl, however, as 2010’s Killers and Life As We Know It were both panned by critics and somewhat ignored by moviegoers.
Ashton Kutcher
Hit Show: That '70s Show
Concurrent Movies of Note: Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, Guess Who, A Lot Like Love
It’s been quite a ride for Kutcher’s career, and in a way it’s come full circle – as he’s now back on the tube (Two and a Half Men), where he started. But for a while during That ‘70s Show’s run, he was parlaying his surge to stardom into movie roles, and it could be argued that the series ultimately ended because each of the main cast members became too big for the small screen (it’s certainly inarguable that Mila Kunis is the biggest alum right now!).
Neve Campbell
Hit Show: Party of Five
Concurrent Movies of Note: The Craft, Scream (first three movies), Wild Things
For a while there in the ‘90s, Fox’s Party of Five was all the rage, and its lead actress, Neve Campbell, capitalized the most. She became a(n) (oc)cult icon for her role in The Craft, a full-fledged household name thanks to the Scream franchise, and a Mr. Skin hall-of-famer following a scene in Wild Things (which hurt her career as much as it helped Denise Richards’). Ironically – or maybe unironically – Campbell’s movie career has pretty much consisted of one misfire after another, including this year’s Scream 4, precisely since the end of Party.
Helen Hunt
Hit Show: Mad About You
Concurrent Movies of Note: Twister, As Good As It Gets
Mad About You served as a launching pad for what would become a successful movie career for Helen Hunt, and although it has since tapered off considerably – likely of her own volition – Hunt at one point threatened to become the biggest actress in the biz, all thanks to Paul Reiser’s hit sitcom. In the end, she starred in a then-groundbreaking special-effects movie that is now a ride at Universal Studios (Twister) and one of the biggest rom-coms of the ‘90s (As Good As It Gets), the latter of which won her an Oscar.
Jennifer Garner
Hit Show: Alias
Concurrent Movies of Note: Pearl Harbor, Daredevil, 13 Going on 30, Elektra
Like the other Jennifer on this list, Garner’s show really shot her to superstardom. Alias displayed so many of Garner’s, ahem, assets and so many different molds she could be tidily squeezed into, it was only a matter of time before the big screen beckoned her full-time attention. But prior to her departure from the J.J. Abrams-created action series, Garner made quite a splash in movies, first with smaller roles in big movies (Pearl Harbor, Catch Me If You Can), then, ultimately, two movies all to herself that would ultimately make (13 Going on 30) and not quite break but temporarily hurt (Elektra) her movie career.
George Clooney
Hit Show: ER
Concurrent Movies of Note: From Dusk Till Dawn, One Fine Day, Batman &amp; Robin, Out of Sight
It’s easy to forget, but George Clooney became “George Clooney” because of ER, and while he didn’t become a Serious Movie Actor until he left the hit series, it afforded him quite a wide variety of big-screen roles – including the dream role in what turned out to be probably the most disastrous Batman movie ever. All will likely agree that Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight was the cinematic high point for Clooney during his days as Dr. Doug Ross (and the high point of J. Lo’s career, period).
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Hit Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Concurrent Movies of Note: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Simply Irresistible, Cruel Intentions, Scooby-Doo
Her movies weren’t always works of art (or, OK, even decent), but with the help of her title role on the beloved Buffy, Gellar was in the late ‘90s the go-to actress for young, angsty female roles in mainstream movies (i.e., I Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions). And Scooby-Doo at least made her a good amount of money. Hopefully.
Almost Everyone on Saturday Night Live
It is well-known that Saturday Night Live is largely a stepping for its cast members on their way to bigger and better things (read: movie stardom); at this point, it’s almost a rite of passage to launch a successful movie career shortly before exiting the sketch-comedy show. Current cast member Kristen Wiig is an anomaly in that she has an absolute blockbuster movie under her belt (this summer’s Bridesmaids), yet she has not confirmed that she will be departing SNL to capitalize on the momentum. The formula is well-documented, though: Everyone from Eddie Murphy (48 Hrs. and Trading Places while on SNL) to David Spade (Tommy Boy) and many in between and since have released a big movie during their “residence” and left because of said big movie soon thereafter.

Not since the days of Must See TV on NBC have the funny ladies of the Peacock network cleaned up so consistently at the Emmys. Now, we find a new era of comedy on NBC, with folks like Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, and of course, Amy Poehler. Now, Fey already got her Emmy – and rightly so – but she’s only got one and it should be noted that another NBC star seemed to be unstoppable years ago when it came to taking home the Best Lead Actress in a Comedy statue (we're looking at you, Helen Hunt; 7-time nominee and 3-time winner for NBC’s former jewel, Mad About You). It’s not to say that the Emmys don’t throw NBC a much-deserved bone here and there, but it seems that their hilarious heroines are getting a bit of the shaft in recent years. That’s why this year, my hope is that Parks and Recreation’s fearless leader can reverse that growing tendency.
As Leslie Knope, Poehler participates in a different comedic tradition that’s becoming a little more endemic to NBC’s lineup: the true comedienne. Now, this is not to say Hunt wasn’t hilarious and loveable as Paul Reiser’s other half or that Jennifer Aniston’s tickling performance didn’t convince millions of women to cut their hair in the exact size and shape of her iconic coif for a reason. However, there is a factor of training. Aniston and Hunt are actresses, straight up. Sure, they fare better on the lighter side of things, and they do what they do well, but they are not trained in the unpredictable, hair-brained laws of comedy the way folks like Fey, Wiig and Poehler are. Poehler is a comedian’s sitcom star and that is a beautiful, delicious notion.
Knope may have started as a female, small town employee version of The Office’s Michael Scott, but the show’s writers quickly learned (okay, by season two they learned) that Lady Scott wasn’t going to cut it. As Parks progressed, so did Knope and instead of some overzealous half-idiot version of Steve Carrell’s most famous character, we find a woman who, while still admirably overzealous, is truly passionate about her town, her job, and her friends, and who’s just about the best government employee who ever graced a Parks Department with her presence. She’s our guide through this strange little universe that is the Pawnee, Indiana local government and there’s no one better to follow.
Not only does Poehler bring so much adorable energy to her public servant character that it could almost give you cavities, but she does it while making audiences laugh so hard they teeter out of their easy chairs. She’s accomplishing the ultimate goal as a lead in a comedy series: you can’t help but love her and you find it hard to breathe when she’s onscreen because you’re suffering from uncontrollable convulsions propelled by laughter. A woman who can do that to her audience on a weekly basis as consistently as Poehler does is a woman who deserves an Emmy, plain and simple.
Related Content:
Emmys 2011: Making a Case for Kristen Wiig
Emmys 2011: Making a Case for Elisabeth Moss

Executives at U.S. TV network NBC cancelled Reiser's self-titled show after just two episodes last week (ends24Apr11) due to low ratings.
The former Mad About You star insists the new series needed more advertising and admits he doubted whether it could ever succeed going up against hit TV talent show American Idol.
He tells U.S. talk show host Jay Leno, "I get a call: 'Come back on TV, make a show for yourself, people out there miss you.' So I came up with the show, they said, 'Great, go make it!' We made seven episodes and they said, 'We're not sure when we'll put it on but we're gonna put it on!' I said, 'As long as you have time to promote it...' and they go, 'Yeah, we'll promote it.'
"I get a call. Finally they go, 'You're on - starting next week. It's a great spot. You're opposite American Idol!' That's a popular show - most of America will be busy watching that show at that hour. They said, 'No, it'll be fine!'
"The second week doesn't do great and Friday... they call and go, 'We're panicked, we're nervous, good-bye, out! We enjoy missing you more than actually having you.' So now they can miss me."
But the funnyman refuses to take the cancellation personally, adding: "That's show business. I don't take it personally because it's a business decision."

After The Paul Reiser Show became NBC's lowest-rated in-season comedy premiere ever -- seriously, it premiered at 1.1 with roughly 3.3 million viewers overall (to put that in comparison, it's about a tenth of what an average night of CBS' The Big Bang Theory or Two and a Half Men grabs) -- NBC has done the only thing you can do after a huge mistake: cancel it and act like it never happened. The show only aired two episodes, but NBC has deemed reruns of The Office better than that crap, and, well, will air some reruns of The Office instead. For those few who actually watched the show and didn't just use it as a bridge to get you from Community to The Office, if you're wanting to get that whole Curb Your Enthusiasm-feel it was going for (but failing miserably), Curb Your Enthusiasm returns on July 10, so just go ahead and wait for that.
Source: Deadline

Title

Played a divorced man coping with raising his daughter and dating in the film comedy "Bye, Bye Love"

Starred in busted ABC sitcom pilot "Just Married"

Made feature acting debut in "Diner"

Wrote and starred in "The Thing About My Folks," which is based loosely on his life

Starred, co-created and produced the series "Mad About You"; also wrote theme song

Signed development deal with Columbia TriStar Television

Had supporting role in the Rob Reiner-directed feature "The Story of Us"

Made TV debut in the pilot for "Diner", reprising his role from the film

Starred in dramatic TV-movie "The Tower" (Fox)

Began performing stand up at age 20

Founded Nuance Productions

Starred in the Showtime movie "Strange Relations"

First HBO comedy special "Paul Reiser: Out On a Whim"

Made TV series debut with the sitcom, "My Two Dads"

Made TV-movie debut with "Sunset Limousine"

Summary

After establishing himself as a sharp-witted presence on the New York comedy scene, Paul Reiser dove headlong into features, playing fast-talking comic relief in films like "Diner" (1982), "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984) and "Aliens" (1987). He earned his first television series with the harmless "My Two Dads" (NBC, 1987-1990), but hit his stride as a performer, writer and producer with "Mad About You" (NBC, 1992-99). The savvy, extremely likable comedy teamed Reiser with Helen Hunt as married New Yorkers who navigated the joys and perils of adulthood while contending with a never-ending parade of eccentric friends and relatives. The show brought Reiser considerable fame and award nominations, but in the years following its departure, he remained relatively inactive, save for writing and starring in "The Thing About My Folks" (2005), a mild family comedy-drama. His return to television with "The Paul Reiser Show" (NBC, 2011- ) was a welcome reminder of his popularity with TV viewers.